Places WanderTheRoad Wants to Go

Cold War missile launch site which has been converted to a public park.

The final resting place of the world's first nuclear reactor.

A replica viking ship from the Chicago World's Fair is still in dry dock in an Illinois park.

This historic Illinois "Muffler Man" has been converted from axe-touting lumberjack to rocket-wielding space ace.

The city of Rockford, Illinois is symbolically protected by a quartet of fittingly stony sentinels.

Despite its name, this fast food museum is actually a replica of the ninth McDonald's store.

The hometown of Popeye's creator is littered with a growing collection of granite cartoon characters.

This life-size bronze statue remembers the tallest recorded human in his Illinois hometown.

Even with its slightly risible name this colossal cross is still able to inspire awe.

A small abandoned and abused cemetery that has become a magnet for ghost hunters.

The famous author's birthplace is preserved in a town that he once described as narrow-minded.

In a grove of fast growing walnut trees outside Paris, Illinois, a marker shares the story of a fictional road building culture.

While he no longer has an eatery to give him context, this off-brand Paul Bunyan still holds his giant hot dog with pride.

This softly rounded mansion was built without corners not to avoid evil spirits, but to make them more comfortable.

River pirates, murderous bandits, and serial killers used this Illinois cave as their debauched hideout.

Fresh wooden posts have been added to ancient holes to recreate a primitive henge clock.

First known as the "Sample House," this construction mash-up was meant to be a living catalogue of building styles.

This lagomorph-obsessed Route 66 emporium is home to a giant jackrabbit that sits in a bunny graveyard.

This historic lavatory leftover features two levels of defecation stations completely without context.

Spanking machines, fake goats, and more devices of humiliation are on display in this museum of fraternal initiation devices.

The remains of a Rockefeller's lush Italianate estate hidden in the underbrush on the coast of Lake Michigan.

This historic store hides a museum exhibiting a shoe-sizing x-ray machine and a pair of kicks that once belonged to the world's tallest man.

This odd stone memorial remembers a loyal dog who offended the rail barons with his speed and saved his master with his pee.

Tour the luxe "glass cage" that inspired and unnerved the architecture world upon its debut.